Leeds will bounce back - Gray

Eddie Gray defiantly insisted Leeds will return to the Premiership after seeing his side virtually condemned to the First Division by a 4-1 defeat at Bolton.

The loss leaves Leeds certain to be relegated, with double-figure victories and favourable results elsewhere now needed in their final two games.

Leeds took the lead through Mark Viduka’s penalty in the first half but when the Australian was sent off for a second booking, their chances suffered a fatal blow.

Youri Djorkaeff scored a quickfire double just after half-time with an Ian Harte own goal and Kevin Nolan’s’ late strike finishing off a commanding second-half display from Bolton.

Gray told Sky’s Premiership Plus: “It’s very disappointing, very disappointing for the players and the supporters and everyone connected with the club. At the end of the day we just lacked a little bit of quality.

“But I think the club will bounce back, we have a great fan base. Even today, at the end of the game when we were up against it, the fans still got behind the players.

“There are a lot of disappointed people in the dressing room today but I’m sure they’ll bounce back. I’m sure we can bounce back and get back in the Premiership once again.”

Today’s defeat came exactly three years after a Champions League semi-final first leg against Valencia, and Gray reflected on events in that period which have seen Leeds slide down English football’s pecking order.

He added: “Three years is a long time in football when you lose a lot of players and don’t have any money. It makes a big difference to a football club and we just couldn’t cope with it quite simply.

“We’ve been under a bit of pressure for the last few seasons financially and that doesn’t help at a football club.”

Leeds will inevitably be the centre of speculation over the summer as to which players will leave and who will manage the club, but Gray would not be drawn on what the future holds.

“We will just have to wait and see where the board is going to go,” he said. It’s disappointing if we lose players but it looks like that’s going to be the way it goes.

“If we can get one or two in we’ll just see where it takes us.

“As for me I’ll wait and see what the board of directors want to do, they’re in charge of the football club.”

Viduka’s sending off proved a turning point but Gray refused to condemn the striker for becoming involved in several minor tussles inside a few minutes.

“I’m not pointing the finger at anybody,” he added. “I haven’t seen the sending off yet so I don’t really know what happened in the incident. But it’s a hard place to come to at the best of times with 11 players.”